Agriculture: Molluscicides

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the total amount of molluscicides applied to English farmland in each of the past 20 years.

Lord De Mauley: Data on the usage of plant protection products, which include molluscicides, are collected by the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) on behalf of Defra. From these data the total amounts of molluscicides applied to English farmland from 1992 to 2011 (the most recent year for which the data are available) are as follows:
	
		
			 Year Weight of active substance applied (tonnes) 
			 1992 95.10 
			 1993 103.22 
			 1994 255.41 
			 1995 256.84 
			 1996 144.29 
			 1997 153.08 
			 1998 176.69 
			 1999 183.28 
			 2000 415.00 
			 2001 415.21 
			 2002 384.04 
			 2003 386.10 
			 2004 182.13 
			 2005 175.68 
			 2006 299.72 
			 2007 297.43 
			 2008 497.51 
			 2009 498.92 
			 2010 195.91 
			 2011 189.49

Armed Forces: Defence Cuts

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of recent comments by the Chief of Defence Staff about the impact of reductions in personnel on the ability of the Armed Forces to carry out tasks.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Chiefs of Staff including Chief of Defence Staff continue to judge that they can do what the Government are asking them to do and agree that future force 2020 is achievable with the budget allocated.

Elections: Northern Ireland

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to remove the requirement for electoral correspondence in local government elections in Northern Ireland to be addressed to individual electors.

Baroness Randerson: The Government have no plans to remove the requirement for mailings by candidates at district council elections in Northern Ireland to be sent to individual electors in order to qualify for free delivery.
	The provision of free mailings for local government elections in Northern Ireland reflects the fact that electoral areas required for the STV system are larger than those in England and Wales, where there is no facility for freepost. No provision is made to allow unaddressed mailings to be sent to every household, as with parliamentary and Assembly elections. Although unaddressed mailings are in theory cheaper to send than those addressed to individual electors, the fact that parties must commit resources to addressing this mail means that they take a targeted approach.
	To allow blanket unaddressed mailings to be sent to every household on behalf of every candidate could have significant cost implications, which would be borne by district councils, and would therefore require detailed consultation with them before any change was made.

Energy: Wind Farms

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase public confidence in wind farm expansion.

Baroness Verma: The National Planning Policy Framework, published earlier this year, makes clear that up to date local plans are the key to delivering sustainable development that reflects the vision and aspirations of local people. The framework is clear that applications for wind turbines should be approved only where their impacts are (or can be made) acceptable.
	We are currently carrying out a call for evidence on onshore wind community engagement and benefits, looking at ways of ensuring that local communities feel the benefit of hosting wind farms. The call for evidence closed on 15 November, and an interim report is due in early 2013.

EU: Financial Assistance to Member States

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that any European Union financial assistance for Cyprus would benefit Russians laundering money through that country's banks; and what steps are open to the European Union to ensure that funds provided to Cyprus are used appropriately.

Lord Sassoon: Cyprus requested medium-term financial assistance from euro area member states on 25 June 2012 and from the IMF on 26 June 2012. It made no similar request of the European Union.
	European Union law requires every member state, including Cyprus, to implement legally binding provisions to disrupt and prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorist activity. This is in line with international standards set by the financial action task force (FATF) to which Cyprus is accountable. Its compliance with international standards is regularly evaluated by the regional FATF body: MONEYVAL.
	In its most recent evaluation, MONEYVAL assessed Cyprus's financial sector to have been adequately monitored for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes.

Government Departments: Coalition Agreement

Lord Ryder of Wensum: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress the Home Office has made since May 2010 in respect of commitments relevant to it in the coalition agreement.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The relevant Home Office commitments published in the coalition agreement have been reflected in its draft structural reform plan in July 2010 and in its business plans from November 2010. The Home Office have published its progress against these priorities monthly and this information is available on the No. 10 website.
	Further information on progress can be found via the following links:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/corporate-publications/structural-reform-plan/(progress against actions from July 2010 to May 2012 (set out in the draft structural reform plan published July 2010, business plan 2011-15 published November 2010 and updated May 2011))http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/(progress against actions from June 2012 (set out in the business plan 2012-15 published May 2012)) Home Office Plans:http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/department-business-plans-updated-2012/(business plan 2012-15 published May 2012)http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/department-business-plans-updated-2012/(revisions made to the business plan 2011-15 published May 2011 reflected in the business plan 2012-15 published May 2012)http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/department-business-plans-updated/ (business plan 2011-15 published May 2011)http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/business-plans-published-2/(business plan 2011-15 published November 2010) http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/business-plans-published-2/ (draft structural reform plan published July 2010)

Government Departments: Insurance

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was spent by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on insurance in each of the past six financial years.

Lord De Mauley: Core Defra spent £55,810 on insurance in 2011-12, comprising £55,350 estates insurance and £460 car insurance. The latter figure includes vehicle excise duty.
	Information for earlier years cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The Government carry their own risk and self insure for their freehold property portfolio. Where it has been possible to negotiate a self-insurance provision for its leasehold properties the department carries the risk. For those leasehold properties where it is a tenant alongside other occupiers, the department will normally contribute to insurance maintained by the landlord.

Government Departments: Procurement

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was (1) the total expenditure, excluding value added tax, on photocopier paper, and (2) the average purchase price, excluding value added tax, of a 500-sheet ream of white A4 80gsm photocopier paper, by (a) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and (b) each of its executive agencies, in the latest year for which figures are available.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure on photocopier paper, excluding value added tax, in the latest year for which figures are available, by (1) the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and (2) each of its executive agencies; and what was the average purchase price in each of those cases, excluding value added tax, of a ream of white A4 80gsm paper.

Lord De Mauley: Expenditure is set out in the table below. Figures exclude VAT.
	
		
			 Body Period Covered Expenditure on Photocopier Paper (£) Average Price per Ream (£) 
			 Core Defra 01.11.2011-31.10.2012 67,873 2.34 
			 Food and Environment Research Agency 31.10.2011-31.10.2012 11,808 2.46 
			 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 01.04.2011-31.03.2012 1,978 2.35 
			 Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Agency 01.04.2011-31.03.2012 57,404 2.26 
			 Rural Payments Agency 01.04.2011-31.03.2012 78,820 2.28 
			 Veterinary Medicines Directorate 01.04.2011-31.03.2012 4,100 2.47 
		
	
	The RPA and AHVLA used two suppliers during the course of the 2011-12 financial year. The average price per ream for these two bodies reflects the price charged by the current supplier.
	Periods covered vary according to the latest available information for each organisation.

Health: End of Life Care

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to start and complete their 2013 review of the 2008 End of Life Strategy; and whether that review will have any independent elements in it.

Earl Howe: We are committed to moving towards a national choice offer to support people's preferences about the manner of their death.
	A review of progress in delivering the initiatives set out in the End of Life Care Strategy, which are improving quality and choice in end of life and palliative care, will be held during 2013. This will inform us about when a right to choose to die at home, including at a care home, might feasibly be introduced. We are currently considering how and when this review might best be undertaken.

Health: Infection Control

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans are in place to ensure that the commissioning of infection prevention and control by clinical commissioning groups is robust.

Earl Howe: The Government will ensure that the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB) and its clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) make provisions for infection prevention and control. The recently published NHS Mandate sets out key areas where the Government expect the NHSCB to make improvements in NHS services. It makes robust reference to reducing the risk to patients from healthcare associated infections. The mandate can be found at: www.wp.dh.gov.uk/publications/files/2012/11/mandate.pdf.
	In addition, the NHSCB will develop a commissioning outcomes framework to drive up standards and provide transparency and accountability about the quality of services that CCGs commission for their patients. The NHSCB will publish an annual performance assessment, reviewing progress against this framework.

Health: Sexual Health

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what responsibilities have been given to local authorities for the commissioning and funding of sexual health services.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will ensure continuity in local sexual health services during and after the transfer of responsibilities to local authorities.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what monitoring will be undertaken of the performance of individual local authorities in the commissioning and funding of sexual health services.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will intervene in the event of local authorities not discharging their responsibilities in the commissioning and funding of sexual health services.

Earl Howe: From 1 April 2013 local authorities will commission all sexual health services apart from HIV treatment and care, abortion, vasectomy and sterilisation. They will be required to commission open-access contraception services and services for the testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections for all people in their area, not just local residents. Local authorities will receive a ring-fenced grant from the department to fund their new public health responsibilities, including the commissioning of sexual health services.
	The department is working closely with councillors, local authority officers, the Local Government Association and other key stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition to the new public health commissioning arrangements. The department has issued a number of documents on commissioning and contracting, with further documents to follow on contracting, clinical governance and the operation of the requirement to commission open access sexual health services. These issues are of key importance in ensuring a successful transition of sexual health services.
	Local authorities are independent and democratically accountable organisations, experienced in commissioning complex personal services for the people in their area. The Public Health Outcomes Framework sets out the key indicators the department expects local authorities to work towards, and there are three indicators covering sexual health. In addition, from 1 April 2013 Public Health England will provide evidence, advice and support to local authorities to help them to satisfy themselves, their local population, advocacy organisations such as Healthwatch and the department that they are fulfilling their new public health responsibilities. However, if any local authority fails to discharge its statutory duty in relation to public health, the Secretary of State will consider appropriate action.

Housing

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many interim empty dwelling management orders were approved (1) before June 2010, and (2) since that date; and which local authorities made those orders.

Lord McNally: Applications made by local housing authorities under the Housing Act 2004 for Empty Dwelling Management Orders are determined by the Residential Property Tribunals, which transferred to the Ministry of Justice in July 2011. The number of Interim Empty Dwelling Management Orders approved by the Residential Property Tribunals before June 2010 (1) was 28 and the number since that date (2) is 38.
	The table below provides details of the local authorities involved and the number of approvals granted to each in the periods concerned.
	
		
			 Table 1-Interim Empty Dwelling Management Orders approved before and after June 2010 by local authority 
			 Number approved before June 2010  Number approved after June 2010  
			 28  38  
			 Local Authority No. Local Authority No. 
			 Bolton Borough Council 1 Bolton Borough Council 2 
			 Carlisle City Council 1 Broadland District Council 1 
			 LB Bromley 1 Carlisle City Council 2 
			 LB Lewisham 4 Central Bedfordshire Council 2 
			 New Forest District Council 1 Epping Forest District Council 1 
			 Norwich City Council 7 Guildford Borough Council 1 
			 Peterborough City Council 2 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council 2 
			 South Gloucestershire Council 1 LB Bromley 2 
			 South Norfolk District 1 LB Hammersmith & Fulham 1 
			 South Oxfordshire District Council 1 LB Hounslow 1 
			 South Tyneside Council 1 LB Lewisham 1 
			 Southend on Sea District Council 3 North Kesteven District Council 1 
			 Staffordshire Moorlands District Council 1 North Tyneside Council 1 
			 Stockton on Tees Council 1 Oxford City Council 2 
			 Swale Borough Council 1 South Lakeland District Council 1 
			 Wychavon District Council 1 South Tyneside Council 11 
			   Southend on Sea District Council 2 
			   Stockton on Tees Council 1 
			   Wolverhampton City Council 3 
		
	
	Source: H1L1 Courts & Tribunals Service: Residential Property Tribunal

Immigration: Deportation

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 17 October (WA 470), to which countries it is difficult to undertake enforced removals of foreign criminals; and to which there are legal barriers to removal.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Disclosure of the countries where it is more difficult to enforce removal or deport foreign nationals would have the likely result of undermining any diplomatic investment we have made in building up relations with those countries.

Israel

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel about the avoidance of hostilities in the Golan Heights.

Baroness Warsi: Whilst acknowledging Israel's legitimate right to self defence, our embassy in Israel has urged Israeli officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security Council and Ministry of Defence to show restraint and to avoid hostilities, most recently on 9 November. Our embassy officials have also discussed this issue with the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan.

NHS: Liverpool Care Pathway

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to promote to medical and nursing personnel awareness of best practice in the care of the terminally ill and dying as set out in the Liverpool care pathway; and what action they intend to take to ensure that such personnel are fully trained in its proper use.

Earl Howe: The Liverpool care pathway is one option to help manage the care of people in their last days or hours of life, complementing the skill and expertise of the practitioner using it.
	The training of health and social care professionals is the responsibility of the independent regulatory authorities. Through their role as the custodians of quality standards in education and practice, these organisations are committed to ensuring excellent patient care delivered by high quality health professionals.
	The Royal College of Physicians' working party report Improving End of Life Care: Professional Development for Physicians recommended to commissioners, trusts, managers and medical schools that tools such as care pathways for end of life care must be properly implemented and should receive continuing support to sustain the learning that is required.
	As well as recognising the important role of palliative care specialists, the End of Life Care Strategy (2008) highlighted the importance of increasing the skills of generalist doctors and nurses, and other health and social care staff, in the delivery of end of life care.
	The department has taken a number of actions to help develop this element of the workforce, including core competences and principles for end of life care; developing an extensive e-learning package on end of life care, free to access for health and social care staff; and producing Talking about End of Life Care: Right Conversations, Right People, Right Time based on the findings of a number of communication skills projects.
	The website and publications of the National End of Life Care Programme continue to highlight best practice in the care of people approaching the end of life.

NHS: Private Patients

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the inpatients at each NHS hospital in England were private patients in each of the past five years.

Earl Howe: The available information has been placed in the Library.

Planning

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the applications for the registration of town and village greens since the coming into force of the Commons Act 2006 were made following the submission of a planning application for some or all of the land concerned, and how many of these applications (1) were successful, (2) failed, and (3) are still pending.

Lord De Mauley: These data are not collected. However, there is evidence of the link between town and village green applications and plans to develop land.
	Defra commissioned a study of greens applications submitted between 2003 and 2008 to investigate whether there was a link between those greens applications and plans for development. In their report the researchers inferred that 48% of applications were driven by, or influenced by, proposals for development in the local plan or planning applications.
	Furthermore, the Association of Commons Registration Authorities for England and Wales conducted a study of 129 applications submitted between 2003 and 2008 and concluded that "large numbers of applications for the registration of new town and village greens have been made, most of which are stimulated following announcements of proposed development of the land in question".

Prisoners: Rehabilitation

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty's Government, of the prisoners with indeterminate sentences who had exceeded their tariff in September 2012, how many have been given an opportunity to undergo rehabilitation courses; and, of those, (1) how many had completed those courses, (2) how many were still undertaking them, and (3) how many had refused to undertake them.

Lord McNally: Of those prisoners serving indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) at 30 September 2012, 3,245 had started at least one accredited offending behaviour programme. Of these, 3,171 had completed at least one programme and 20 were still attending a programme.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	No information is collected on how many prisoners refuse to undertake programmes and this could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Failure to access a recommended intervention, such as an offending behaviour programme, is not the only reason that prisoners do not complete them: some prisoners will not have been assessed as suitable to undertake particular interventions (for example, because they deny their crime). Other prisoners who have accessed interventions may have failed to engage sufficiently to complete them.
	It is important to remember that the release of a prisoner serving an IPP or any other indeterminate sentence on tariff expiry is not automatic, even where that prisoner has completed a number of interventions designed to reduce his or her risk. The Parole Board's assessment of an IPP prisoner's suitability for release is based upon what is known of the prisoner's risk of harm and risk of reoffending at the time of his or her parole review, rather than whether or not the prisoner has completed specific interventions.

Public Bodies: Appointments

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many appointments or reappointments of candidates from a Chinese background were made to public bodies in each year from 2005 until the last year for which records are available.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: This information is not held centrally.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each Question for Written Answer allocated to the Department for Communities and Local Government that remained unanswered on 11 October, on what date it was (1) sent by the parliamentary branch to the policy official, (2) returned by the policy official to the parliamentary branch, (3) sent by the parliamentary branch to the policy minister, (4) approved by the policy minister, and (5) sent to the Lords Minister for signature; and in each case who the policy minister was.

Baroness Hanham: The department fully recognises the importance of responding promptly to Parliamentary Questions. In the first three months of the current parliamentary Session, 93% of the department's 68 Lords Questions for Written Answer were answered on time.
	There were five related Questions for Written Answer, all from the noble Lord, Lord Bates, unanswered on 11 October. They were answered on 19 October (Official Report, WA 489-491).

Rape

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cautions have been issued to people admitting rape in each of the past five years.

Lord McNally: The number of defendants cautioned for attempted rape or rape over the past five years can be viewed in the table below.
	
		
			 The number of defendants cautioned for rape offences (including attempted rape), in England and Wales for 2007 to 2011(1)(2) 
			 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 34 35 22 35 19 
		
	
	(1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
	(2) The above figures include reprimands and warnings.
	Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice PQ

Retail Prices Index

Lord Naseby: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the consultation by the Office for National Statistics on the future of the Retail Prices Index is only publicised online.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for ONS, to Lord Naseby, dated November 2012.
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking why the consultation on the future of the Retail Prices Index is only publicised online (HL356).
	The launch of the consultation was pre-announced on 18 September alongside the release of the August consumer price statistics ONS drew attention to this announcement via e-mail and through press briefings. This was followed up with a news release on 8 October highlighting the launch of the consultation, which received coverage in the national and broadcast media, followed by Twitter and Facebook updates. In addition ONS alerted users of consumer price statistics via e-mail and on StatsUserNet-the Royal Statistical Society's web forum for users of statistics. Paper copies of the consultation were sent to users who requested one. Furthermore, ONS held public events (publicised online and via e-mail) in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast to inform the public about the consultation.
	In addition to coverage of the launch, the consultation and the issues it is addressing have also received significant print and broadcast media coverage in the lead up to and during the consultation.
	There have been over 120 responses to the consultation so far representing a broad range of interests and users.

Schools: Breakfast Clubs

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will maintain the network of school breakfast clubs.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Standards Fund allocations to schools for extended services have been mainstreamed into the dedicated schools grant so it is for schools to decide what extended services to provide. The Government recognise the importance of children having a healthy breakfast and many schools and academies do provide breakfast clubs.

Skills Funding Agency

Baroness Brinton: To ask Her Majesty's Government which (1) local enterprise partnerships, and (2) city deals, will receive funding previously provided to the Skills Funding Agency in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, and (c) 2014-15; and how much funding will be made available in each case.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The single adult skills budget is managed by the Skill Funding Agency, an executive agency of BIS. At this point, and in advance of the Government's response to a range of reviews affecting skills, this budget is scheduled to be managed by the Skills Funding Agency for the years in question.
	BIS will be providing separate funding to the cities for the skills elements of the city deals which were announced in July 2012. This funding is subject to the development of business cases by the cities. Once the business cases are agreed, this funding will be issued to the cities on behalf of BIS via the Skills Funding Agency. The exception is Sheffield where the funding is being provided via the single adult budget by the Skills Funding Agency, as part of growing an existing contract in line with demand.
	In addition. the regional growth fund money allocated by BIS for LEP programmes is being used to stimulate local growth and create jobs, and skills are an important part of this in many cases too.